Lucknow lad rides into Guinness records with ‘Swadeshi’ message

On September 17, 2015, Lucknow youth Gaurav Siddharth, 25, set out on the most arduous and challenging solo motorcycle journey of 1,20,000 kms within the country, a distance roughly three times the earth’s circumference, with a message of ‘Swadeshi’ (Made in India).

On September 17, 2015, Lucknow youth Gaurav Siddharth, 25, set out on the most arduous and challenging solo motorcycle journey of 1,20,000 kms within the country, a distance roughly three times the earth’s circumference, with a message of ‘Swadeshi’ (Made in India).

After a continuous riding period of one year and eight months across 29 states, five union territories and a rigorous verification period of nine months, the Guinness World Records on February 25 this year certified his attempt as the longest motorcycle journey in a single country.

“The ride was flagged off by Swami Ramdev to champion the cause of ‘swadeshi’ and the mission further strengthened with blessings from PM Narendra Modi’s mother Heeraben in Gujarat, who also motivated me to keep moving towards the goal,” claimed Gaurav, a psychology graduate from Lucknow University.

This record was previously held by an American biker Danell Lynn who rode 78,000 kms across the US.

“The entire journey was self-financed despite several offers from corporates as well as Infosys’s founder Narayan Murthy. This was to keep in tune with the idea of active exploration without any commercial goals and learning to survive within limited means,” said Gaurav.

Riding at an average speed of 50-70 kmph for around 7-8 hours daily, Gaurav covered around 200-500 kms approx on a daily basis subjected to various rules and regulations set by the Guinness authority for the ride. “Some of them included: Daily GPS logs from a professional GPS device, a video footage of at least two minutes every hour, photographic evidence, witness statements from people, daily hourly logbooks, bills and receipts of services and goods paid for etc,” he added.

Throughout the journey period of around two years, Gaurav rode an India-made bike – Hero Impulse bike (UP32 GM 3367 – named Bawri 2.0) with all accessories, riding gear, GPS, camera, navigation apps, helmet etc.

He promoted and spread awareness on several issues while being on the ride including the petrol dispensing and pump frauds, facilities available to a consumer in a petrol pump, safety while being on the highway, use of digital lockers for those who forget to take their licences and documents, etc,

After the journey, the record authentication witnessed an extremely thorough verification and spot checks for around nine months, post which the attempt was approved as an official entry to the Guinness Book of World Records on February 25, 2018.